West Nile Virus Found In Mosquitos In Monmouth County

HOWELL, NJ — A truck will be spraying insecticide to kill adult mosquitos in part of Howell on Friday, township and county officials said.

That is because the Monmouth County Office of Mosquito Control has detected West Nile virus in mosquitoes that bite humans collected in Howell, officials said.

The spraying is set to be performed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Friday along residential and municipal streets including Old Tavern Road between the Manasquan Reservoir and the railroad tracks; Manassa Road; Norse Drive and Preventorium Road north of Interstate 195.

The county Office of Mosquito Control said it will be spraying Zenivex 4E using Ultra Low Volume (ULV) sprayers mounted in the bed of a pick-up truck.

West Nile virus is related to St. Louis encephalitis virus, according to information provided by the Monmouth County Office of Mosquito Control.

"Typically, this virus results in clinical disease in only a very small percentage of humans infected," the county said.

General symptoms of West Nile fever include fever, rash, and headache, but can include meningitis, encephalitis, coma, and death. The fatality rate is approximately 10 percent.

There are no reports of West Nile virus causing illness in domestic animals except for horses.

It has been found to infect many species of wild birds and animals and wild bird migration is believed to be the way the virus is spread, the information said.

"West Nile virus also is known to replicate in ticks, which may serve as an alternate means of transmission under certain circumstances," the county said.

Note: If you find a dead crow, report it to your local health department as soon as possible. If the crow is in an early stage of decay, it can be collected and submitted to the NJ Department of Health for West Nile virus testing.

County officials provided a fact sheet with more information about the truck spraying that will be conducted on Friday: